Surface Treatment Apparatus

ABSTRACT

A surface treatment apparatus in the form of an attachment for use with mobile hydraulic equipment which incorporates one or more grinding head. The apparatus incorporates components such as a gimbal and a linkage which further enhance the ability of the grinding head to achieve uniform surface treatment results on uneven surfaces. The linkage may also serve as a lever to prop up the weight of the apparatus on the surface and thereby allowing personnel safe and convenient access to service abrasive tooling bits on the underside of the grinding head. The purpose of such an apparatus is to achieve greater productivity without sacrificing quality of surface treatment finished results when treating a surface.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to surface treatment whereinsaid surface is a floor or pavement constructed of concrete, stone,terrazzo, and/or similar materials and the said treatment is grinding,polishing, coating removal, or the like.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Floor and pavement surfaces are commonly constructed of durablematerials such as concrete, stone, and terrazzo. This has been the casefor thousands of years and is common globally. In recent years,beginning in the 1990 s, treating such surfaces with modern grinding andpolishing equipment is a practice that has seen increasing popularityand widespread common use. This practice is for the purpose of achievingsurface qualities that are recognized as valuable to the application forwhich the surface is used. Such qualities include, but are not limitedto: roughness, waviness, hardness, flatness, levelness, profile, andreflectivity. These surface qualities are modified to achieve: improvedaesthetics, increased service life, easy low-cost maintenance, bettervehicle ride quality, increased traction, improved bonding with toppingsand coverings, and more. These improvements are so valued by surfaceowners, and end users of the surface, that there exists a global marketfor thousands of contractors to compete in providing surface treatmentservices. As a result, these contractors are willing to invest inacquiring equipment which will better enable them in meeting the surfacetreatment needs of their clients. This has therefore resulted in amarket for such equipment where developers, manufacturers, and marketingcompanies compete to produce and sell surface treatment equipmentfavored by the contractors.

The modern grinding and polishing equipment which has been key to thegrowth in the surface treatment industry is the abrasivediamond-impregnated tooling and the floor grinder or planetary grinder,hereafter referred to as “grinder”, to which this tooling is attached.The most common embodiment of the grinder used for floor and pavementsurface treatment incorporates a grinding head. This grinding head hasthe diamond tooling affixed to multiple rotatable discs; these discs aremounted to a rotatable drum; there is an input shaft which, whenrotated, drives a mechanism which causes the drum to rotate and thediscs to rotate and move the diamonds across and against the surfacewhich is being treated. The grinding head is most commonly driven by anelectric motor which is mounted upon it. This grinding head assembly andmotor is pivotally mounted to a wheeled chassis which has handle bars;the operator stands behind the machine holding the handle bars andpushes it across the surface while the diamond tooling rotates acrossand against the surface to treat the surface as per desired. Thisequipment is commonly referred to herein as the walk-behind grinder.

There are a variety of types of diamond tooling which are designed toachieve a specific quality when treating the surface. The diamondtooling often incorporates specific sizes of impregnated diamondparticles in a bonding material. This bonding material also can bevaried with the type of surface treatment needed. Often, multiplesubsequent stages of surface treatment are required. These stages areperformed as follows: the operator will treat an area of the surfacewith one type of diamond tooling and when that is complete they willreplace the diamond tooling on the grinder with a different type ofdiamond tooling and proceed to treat the same area again with thegrinder; this process will be repeated with as many types of diamondtooling and stages necessary to achieve the desired results. The diamondtooling wears out as it is abraded against the surface. The operatorwill service or replace the diamond tooling numerous times during thecourse of the surface treatment job, therefore, it is important thatthey can safely and conveniently access the underside of the discs towhich the diamond tooling is mounted.

Consistency in the quality of finished surface is important whentreating a surface and the surface treatment contractor is expected todeliver similar quality of results across the entire surface beingtreated. Three factors that affect the quality of results are: the speedof the diamond tooling across the surface, the pressure of the diamondtooling against the surface, and the ability for the diamond tooling tofreely follow the contours of the surface. Variations in the speed ofthe diamond tooling across the surface will effect varying surfacetreatment results and affect the longevity of the diamond tooling. Tomaximize productivity the speed of the diamond tooling is maximized,however, there is a limit to the speed. If the speed of the diamondtooling is excessive the longevity of the diamond tooling and thequality of surface treatment results are adversely affected. Therefore,the rate of productivity is limited because the ramifications, such ashigher cost of replacing diamond tooling and more time spent repeatingsurface treatments to achieve desired consistency of results, outweighthe benefit of any additional increase in productivity. Variations inthe pressure of the diamond tooling against the surface will achievevarying surface treatment results and affect the longevity of thediamond tooling.

It is also to be noted, every surface has imperfections in flatness andlevelness, if the design of the grinding equipment does not allow thediamond tooling to adjust to these imperfections, and maintain contactwith the contour of the surface, then areas of the surface will beskipped and remain untreated and/or areas will be treated excessivelywith excessive pressure. This will result in inconstancies in thefinished surface as well as higher costs in replacing diamond tooling.Therefore, it is important for the grinding equipment to allowreasonable control of the speed and down pressure of the diamond toolingand to allow the diamond to freely ride along the contours of thesurface.

The process of surface treatment is time consuming; to achieve thespecified surface qualities contractors work many hours and surfacetreatment jobs usually span many days and weeks and, for larger surfaceareas, the process may span months. The surface is not available for useduring the surface treatment process, therefore, it is in the surfaceowner's interest to complete the process as quickly as possible so thatthe surface can be again put to use for the intended purpose. Toexpedite the surface treatment process a contractor requires numerouspersonnel operating many grinders. The cost of employing skilledlaborers is the often the greatest expense relating to the surfacetreatment process.

Treating a surface usually requires multiple parallel passes to treatthe entire surface area. It is important that the entire surface areagets treated and no areas are missed. In common practice, whenperforming parallel passes, the operator will overlap the current areaof treatment pass with the previous treatment pass. To maximizeproductivity the operator will strive to keep the overlap to a minimumsince the treatment in the area of overlap is redundant. If any gapexists between the two passes then the area in the gap will be leftuntreated and the quality of results will be unsatisfactory. To ensurethere is complete coverage of the surface area the common industrypractice is for the operator to blend each pass by moving the surfacetreatment apparatus side-to-side while traveling forwards, resulting ina sinusoidal-like path of motion across the surface. This practice hasbeen found to be a reliable way to achieve a consistent quality oftreatment results across an entire surface without sacrificingproductivity.

There has been an ever-growing demand for surface treatment services.This increasing popularity stems from industries becoming more aware ofthe advantages of various surface treatment practices while the cost forsuch services lowers with improved surface treatment technology andmethods that increase productivity and reduce material costs. Existingfacilities and infrastructure have surfaces that are constantlydeteriorating from environmental conditions and use and thereforeregularly require surface treatment to enable continued use of thesurface. Newly constructed surfaces also receive surface treatment toachieve the surface qualities specified by the surface owner. Also, withthe lower cost of surface treatment services, more surface owners canafford these services for even larger surface areas. As the demand hasgrown for even larger surface areas to be treated there has been acorresponding growing impetus to increase the productivity of thesurface treatment equipment.

To achieve productivity gains and treat larger surfaces in shorteramounts of time, without increasing labor cost by employing additionalpersonnel for the task, extensive efforts have been made to improve thedesign of the traditional walk-behind grinder. The productivity gainspossible with a walk behind grinder using current diamond toolingtechnology have plateaued. This is because the diamond tooling hasoperational speed limitations, therefore, to increase the rate ofproductivity the design must have an increased surface area of diamondtooling, however, to maintain the required pressure of the diamondtooling against the surface there must be an increase in the weight ofthe machine to correspond with the increased diamond tooling surfacearea. Since the walk-behind grinder is manually operated by a personpushing and maneuvering it across the surface there is a limit how heavythe machine can be before the physical bodily strength and endurancerequired to operate the machine exceeds what the average human body cansustain. Any increase in weight of the walk-behind polisher results in ahigher rate of fatigue and risk of injury to the operator. This has ledto the development of larger, mechanically assisted ride-on machines.

Realizing the limitations of the walk-behind grinder, developers havedesigned specialized ride-on grinders to achieve additional productivitygains. These are wheeled drivable machines which are equipped withmechanical lifting devices attached to one or more grinding heads; theoperator rides on the machine and control the mechanical lifting deviceto lower the grinding heads to engage the diamond tooling with thesurface or to raise the grinding heads for transport across the floorand/or service the diamond tooling. One example of a ride-on grinderthat has been made commercially available, by the company HTC Sweden AB,is the “HTC 2500 iX”. These types of specialized ride-on machines tendto be too expensive for most surface treatment contractors to afford,and there is not yet a large enough market demand for these machines tomanufacture in volumes that would achieve economies of scale which wouldlower costs of these machines to a more affordable amount. Since thesemachines are highly specialized and expensive a contractor must committo investing a high capital expense with the risk of not securing enoughcontracts, for floor treatment jobs using the machine, to get a positivereturn on investment. Some companies have taken an alternative approachby innovating a less costly, and more versatile, high-productivitygrinding machine by utilizing currently existing mobile hydraulicequipment.

This different approach to a less costly, and more versatile,high-productivity grinding machine involves utilizing commonly availablemobile hydraulic equipment to hydraulically power the grinding equipmentwhich is mounted on a separate attachment to the machine. Mobilehydraulic equipment is in common use in many forms on most constructionjobs around the world, and many forms have been developed to accommodatevarious implement attachments which can be powered by an auxiliaryhydraulic system integrated on the machine. Some examples of these formsof mobile hydraulic equipment are skid-steer loaders, compact trackloaders, compact loaders, and telehandlers. These machines can lift,carry, manipulate, and power attachments mounted to an interface designwhich is universally common and standard to construction industries. Bydesigning a surface treatment apparatus as an attachment for mobilehydraulic equipment, the overall investment cost can be keptsignificantly lower than a specialized ride-on grinder. This is becausethe mobile hydraulic equipment is produced in much greater volumes andcan be produced at economies of scale to be more affordable; therebyaccomplishing the mobility and power required at lower cost while theonly specialized portion is on the attachment. One example of a machineattachment designed for use as a surface treatment apparatus is the“Stone Extreme” made commercially available by the company Stonekor,LLC. The specialized grinding equipment attachment will be knownhereafter as an apparatus.

The idea of a surface treatment apparatus as an attachment for use withmobile hydraulic equipment is not a novel concept, however, there existsseveral problems with the prior art that limit the productivity andquality that is achievable and also presents a potential safety hazard.As aforementioned, it is important for the surface treatment apparatusto achieve a consistent quality of results but unequal distributions ofdownward force are detrimental to such. With the prior art, theapparatus is restricted from floating on a bumpy or uneven surface ormoving with a sufficient range of motion independent from the mobilehydraulic equipment. Irregularities in the flatness of the surface beingtreated cause the surface contact points of the surface treatmentapparatus to be on a different plane than the surface contact points ofthe wheels on the surface treatment apparatus. When this occurs, if theapparatus does not have sufficient range of motion independent from themobile hydraulic equipment the rigidity of the system will cause unequaldistributions of downward force on the diamond tooling, causing anundesirable quality of results. One example of these undesirable resultsis that the apparatus will cut off the high spots of the floor andbridge over the low spots leaving noticeable variation in the look andfinish of the floor which is undesirable.

Additionally, with the prior art the grinding heads are restricted frommoving with a sufficient range of motion independent from the frame towhich they are attached. When irregularities in the flatness of thesurface being treated cause the surface contact points of one grindinghead to be on a different plane than another grinding head the rigidityof the system will cause unequal distributions of downward force on thediamond tooling, causing an undesirable quality of results. When thequality inconsistencies occur, the operator often attempts to improvethe quality by making multiple staggered passes with the machine and/orpasses with different directions of travel. These additional effortsincrease the time required, consume additional diamond tooling, andreduces the overall productivity.

Another problem experienced with prior art results from the tendency forhydraulic cylinders on mobile hydraulic equipment to drift. When theoperator parks and exits the mobile hydraulic equipment they will oftenleave the apparatus attached to the machine in a raised and tiltedposition. In raising and tilting the apparatus a significant amount ofgravitational potential energy is stored and is held aloft only byhydraulic jacks on the mobile hydraulic equipment. Inherent to thedesign of the hydraulic system on the mobile hydraulic equipment thesecylinders will slowly drift under the load. When left unattended for asufficient amount of time, such as overnight, the apparatus will havedrifted until it contacts the surface or any obstacle, such as a wall,structure, or other equipment. This can result in costly damages. Thealternative is to detach the apparatus from the machine which is timeconsuming and unproductive since the apparatus will need to bereattached again when the operator proceeds to resume use of theapparatus.

Finally, use of the prior art can present a potential safety hazard topersonnel attempting to service the diamond tooling. When servicing thediamond tooling the attachment is raised and tilted to expose theunderside of the apparatus to make the diamond tooling accessible topersonnel servicing the diamond tooling. In raising and tilting theapparatus a significant amount of gravitational potential energy isstored and is held aloft only by hydraulic jacks on the mobile hydraulicequipment. If the hydraulic system were to fail, or be inadvertentlyactuated, the personnel servicing the diamond tooling would be in gravedanger of being crushed since they would likely be standing in the pathof motion of the falling apparatus. Standard Title 29 CFR1926.600(a)(3)(i) issued by United States Department of LaborOccupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) states that “HeavyMachinery, equipment, or parts thereof, which are suspended or heldaloft by use of slings, hoists, or jacks shall be substantially blockedor cribbed to prevent falling or shifting before employees are permittedto work under or between them. Bulldozer and scraper blades, end-loaderbuckets, dump bodies, and similar equipment, shall be either fullylowered or blocked when being repaired or when not in use. All controlsshall be in neutral position, with the motors stopped and brakes set,unless work being performed requires otherwise.” To safely service thediamond tooling on the prior art personnel must take additional measuresto block up the apparatus. This can easily be overlooked without propertraining or forgotten by personnel and also adds to the time it takes toservice the diamond tooling, negatively impacting productivity.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

During a surface treatment process the operator of a surface treatmentapparatus seeks to achieve the desired surface qualities at the highestrate of productivity possible without risking the safety of anypersonnel and minimizing the diamond tooling consumption. The currentinvention is an apparatus, in the form of a machine attachment, forsurface treatment which achieves greater productivity than traditionalmethods and improves upon the prior art to solve a plurality of problemsinherent with the function of said prior art. One advantage of saidapparatus over prior art is that it achieves a consistent quality ofsurface treatment because the configuration of the machine attachmentresults in a consistent and evenly distributed downward force of theabrasive tooling onto the surface being treated By designing theapparatus to be freely floating, or moving up and down, independentlyfrom the machine to which it is attached. Another advantage of the saidapparatus over prior art is that it achieves a greater consistency inthe quality of surface treatment because it allows each rotating drumassembly within a plurality of rotating drum assemblies to moveindependently, pivoting about multiple independent axis and therebyconforming to the unevenness of the surface. Another way the saidapparatus achieves a greater consistency in the quality of surfacetreatment results is through a design which allows the apparatus to movefreely within a limited distance side-to-side while treating a surface,effectively blending passes with a natural sinusoidal motion.Additionally, the said apparatus incorporates features which prevent theapparatus from unexpectedly moving due to drifting hydraulic cylinderson the mobile hydraulic equipment. The said apparatus also allowspersonnel to safely and conveniently service the diamond tooling withoutbeing endangered by working under a suspended load.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a surface treatment apparatus.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a surface treatment apparatus withhydraulic components and mounted to mobile hydraulic equipment.

FIG. 3 illustrates a top view of an example of a surface treatmentapparatus.

FIG. 4 illustrates a side view of an example of a surface treatmentapparatus.

FIG. 5 illustrates a front view of an example of a surface treatmentapparatus.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a surface treatment apparatus mountedto mobile hydraulic equipment.

FIGS. 7, 8, and 9 illustrate an example of a surface treatment apparatusmounted to mobile hydraulic equipment and illustrate the freedom ofmovement of the components.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a surface treatment apparatus mountedto mobile hydraulic equipment.

FIG. 11 illustrates a side view of an example of a surface treatmentapparatus mounted to mobile hydraulic equipment.

FIG. 12 illustrates a top view of an example of a surface treatmentapparatus mounted to mobile hydraulic equipment.

FIG. 13 illustrates a front view of an example of a surface treatmentapparatus mounted to mobile hydraulic equipment.

FIG. 14 illustrates an example of a surface treatment apparatus withhydraulic components and mounted to mobile hydraulic equipment.

FIG. 15 illustrates a top view of an example of a surface treatmentapparatus with hydraulic components and mounted to mobile hydraulicequipment.

FIG. 16 illustrates a front view of an example of a surface treatmentapparatus with hydraulic components and mounted to mobile hydraulicequipment.

FIGS. 17 and 18 illustrate examples of a surface treatment apparatusmounted to mobile hydraulic equipment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure provides an apparatus, in the form of a machineattachment, for surface treatment; wherein said surface is a floor orpavement constructed of concrete, stone, terrazzo, and/or similarmaterials and the said treatment is grinding, polishing, coatingremoval, or the like.

In one embodiment, illustrated in FIG. 1, the apparatus 001 has one ormore grinding heads 006 affixed to a machine coupler interface 002 bymeans of one or more gimbals 005, one or more frames 004, and one ormore linkages 003. The said grinding head 006 is a mechanical devicepowered by rotating an input shaft to rotate discs incorporated thereonand upon which abrasive tooling bits are attached. The machine couplerinterface 002 provides features by which to attach the apparatus tomobile hydraulic equipment. The system of gimbal(s) 005, frame(s) 004,and linkage(s) 003 allow the grinding head(s) 006 to be manipulated byan operator in such a way that the abrasive tooling bits engage incontact with a surface which shall be treated. The system of gimbal(s)005, frame(s) 004, and linkage(s) 003 also allow sufficient range ofmotion for the grinding head(s) to move independently from the machinecoupler interface 002 to achieve a consistent contact pressure on theabrasive tooling bits when engaged in contact with the surface whichshall be treated. The system of gimbal(s) 005, frame(s) 004, andlinkage(s) 003 also allows the grinding head(s) 006 to be manipulated byan operator in such a way that the abrasive tooling bits can be accessedfor service and/or replacement.

FIG. 2 illustrates the side view of one implementation of one embodimentof the apparatus 008 hydraulically powered by the auxiliary hydrauliccircuit of a mobile hydraulic equipment 007 to which it is attached,where the said hydraulic equipment in FIG. 2 is a skid-steer loader. Theillustration depicts the preferred orientation of the apparatus as it isbeing used to treat a surface 018.

FIGS. 3-5 show top, side, and front views of one embodiment of thesurface treatment apparatus 001. In these illustrations, the apparatus001 is depicted with a machine coupler interface 002 connected to aframe 004 by means of linkages 003 joined together pivotally by means ofpins and bearings 020. There are three grinding heads 006 depicted, eachpivotally attached to a gimbal 005 which is pivotally attached to theframe 004. The grinding heads are each illustrated with a motor 021attached. The linkage 003 is illustrated with a geometry which allows itto be used as a lever to lift the frame 004 and components attachedthereon. The linkage 003 is also shown to include a wheel 015 attachedto an extended portion of the effort arm of the linkage when it isfunctioning as a lever. The frame 004 depicted has multiple mountingholes 019 for the gimbals 005 to be attached at different positions onthe frame, this is to allow for the positions of the gimbals andcorresponding grinding heads 006 to be repositioned to adjust theoverall width of the apparatus 001.

In one implementation, illustrated in FIGS. 6-9, the operator of themobile hydraulic equipment 007 attaches one embodiment of the apparatus001 to the mobile hydraulic equipment by securing the machine couplerinterface on the apparatus to a coupler on the mobile hydraulicequipment. Wedges on the coupler engage with features on the machinecoupler interface to mechanically secure the coupler and machine couplerinterface together. The operator then manipulates the apparatus 001 bymeans of lifting and tilting the coupler as enabled by the mobilehydraulic equipment 007. The operator proceeds to treat a surface 018using the apparatus 001 by lifting the apparatus and driving the mobilehydraulic equipment 007 onto, or near, the surface which shall betreated. The operator then raises the apparatus 001 and tilts itforwards and then lowers the apparatus until the abrasive tooling bitsengage in contact with the surface 018. The operator positions themachine coupler interface in such an orientation that the frame on theapparatus is free to move vertically 015, move horizontally 013, pitch010 forwards and backwards, and roll 023 side-to-side, all within alimited yet sufficient range of motion relative to the mobile hydraulicequipment 007 and machine coupler interface; this orientation isdepicted in the figures. The operator then applies power to motor(s)mounted to the grinding head(s) 006 to rotate input shaft(s) on eachgrinding head(s) and thereby start the motion of the abrasive toolingbits across and against the surface 018. These abrasive tooling bitsachieve the desired surface treatment in areas where they contact thesurface 018 with sufficient pressure and speed, enough to causeparticles of the surface to break free. While sustaining power to themotor(s) on the grinding head(s) the operator next proceeds to drive themobile hydraulic equipment 007 across 012 the surface 018 pushing theapparatus across the surface and thereby treating any areas where theabrasive tooling bits contact the surface. As the operator drives themobile hydraulic equipment 007 across the surface 018 the mobilehydraulic equipment and the conjoined machine coupler interface maypitch 011, roll 023, or move vertically 025, due to irregularities ofthe surface or accelerations of the mobile hydraulic equipment, however,due to the inventive design these motions have negligible effect on theorientation of the grinding head(s) and the pressure applied to theabrasive tooling bits against the surface remains consistent.Irregularities in the surface 018 being treated cause the frame(s) onthe apparatus 001 to pitch 010 or roll 023 and assume a planarorientation different from the planar orientation of the grindinghead(s) resting on the surface, therefore, the gimbal(s) to which thegrinding head(s) are mounted are designed to allow the grinding head(s)to pitch and roll 009 independently from the frame, conforming to theunevenness of the surface, to achieve a consistent pressure of theabrasive tooling bits against the surface. One or more bearing(s) on thepin joint(s) for the linkage(s) joining the machine coupler interface tothe frame allow the pin joint(s) to rotate about a center point in twoorthogonal directions, permitting the frame to move 013 left to rightwithin a limited range of motion and allowing a sinusoidal-like motion014 of the grinding head(s) to occur as the apparatus is moved acrossthe surface.

FIGS. 10-13 illustrate another implementation of one embodiment of thesurface treatment apparatus 001 attached to a mobile hydraulic equipment007 resting on a surface 018. These illustrations depict the preferredorientation of the apparatus to allow personnel access to service theabrasive tooling bits 016, which are mounted to rotatable discs 017 onthe underside of the grinding heads 006. This orientation is preferredfor this task because the weight of the apparatus 001 is directlysupported by the surface 018 rather than being held aloft by hydraulicjacks on the mobile hydraulic equipment. This is achieved by the designof the linkages 003 allowing it to function as a lever where thereactionary forces of the surface 018 support the load on the effort armof said lever, with the fulcrum of the lever being the point where thelinkage is attached to the machine coupler interface. The point wherethe linkage 003 attaches to the frame 004 of the apparatus 001 is on theload arm of the lever and the linkage thereby serves to support aloftthe weight of the frame and members attached thereon. A wheel 015 isdepicted on what is the effort arm of the portion of the linkage 003when it functions as a lever. These wheels 015 serve to allow the effortarm to roll along the surface during the action of the lever, andthereby preventing the linkage from scratching or marring the surface.

In one embodiment, shown in FIGS. 14-16, the surface treatment apparatus008 is depicted with a hydraulic system which powers hydraulic motors onthe grinding heads. The apparatus 008 is shown attached to a mobilehydraulic equipment 007 where said mobile hydraulic equipment is askid-steer loader. In the implementation illustrated, the apparatus isshown in the preferred orientation when in use treating a surface 018.

FIG. 17 illustrates one embodiment of the apparatus 001 attached to amobile hydraulic equipment in the form of a telehandler 022, theapparatus is depicted in the preferred orientation for treating asurface. FIG. 18 illustrates one embodiment of the apparatus 001attached to a mobile hydraulic equipment in the form of a compact wheelloader 026, the apparatus is depicted in the preferred orientation forservicing abrasive tooling bits on the grinding heads.

It is to be understood that, although the invention herein has beendescribed and depicted with reference to particular embodiments andimplementations, these embodiments are merely illustrative of theprinciples and applications of the present invention. Various changesmay be made to the illustrative embodiments and other arrangements maybe devised without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentinvention as defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A surface treatment apparatus, comprising: atleast one machine coupler interface; and at least one linkage pivotallyattached to said machine coupler interface; and at least one framepivotally attached to said linkage; and at least one gimbal pivotallyattached to said frame; and at least one grinding head pivotallyattached to said gimbal.
 2. The surface treatment apparatus in claim 1which includes: a lever; and a pivoting point on the said machinecoupler interface which is the fulcrum of said lever, and is configuredsuch that, when the said machine coupler interface is tilted it contactsthe effort arm of said lever, and it applies an input force upon theeffort arm of said lever, and the load arm of said lever contacts saidframe, and applies an output force upon said frame, so as to raise orlower the said frame.
 3. The surface treatment apparatus in claim 2wherein said linkage and the said lever are one and the same.
 4. Thesurface treatment apparatus in claim 2 wherein the effort arm of saidlever is of a geometry such that when the said machine coupler interfaceis positioned within close proximity to a surface the said effort armcontacts the said surface and the surface supports weight of said frameby way of leverage.
 5. The surface treatment apparatus in claim 4wherein at least one wheel is attached to said lever effort arm as anextension of the effort arm.
 6. The surface treatment apparatus in claim1 wherein said linkage is affixed to said frame by means of pinssupported by at least one bearing that permits angular rotation about acentral point in two orthogonal directions.
 7. The surface treatmentapparatus in claim 1 which has a plurality of gimbals attached to saidframe.
 8. The surface treatment apparatus in claim 7 wherein there are aplurality of planetary grinding heads attached to said gimbals.
 9. Thesurface treatment apparatus in claim 1 wherein said frame has aplurality of mounting holes for attaching said gimbal at differentpositions on the frame.
 10. The surface treatment apparatus in claim 1wherein said grinding heads are receive an input torque from hydraulicmotors.
 11. The surface treatment apparatus in claim 1 wherein saidgrinding heads are receive an input torque from electric motors.